One morning, Sir Arthur Scarsdale's butler is alarmed to find that he cannot rouse his master as usual. Breaking down his bedroom door, Scarsdale's nephew Shelton discovers to his horror that his uncle has died in the night. The local doctor is adamant that death was due to heart failure, but Shelton, also a newly-qualified doctor, is not so sure. He feels there is something odd about the body - something that causes Faringdon, a noted explorer and Scarsdale's house guest, to faint upon sight of it. It is not long before Shelton's unease is vindicated. For the post mortem reveals that the corpse had been almost entirely drained of blood.
Originally published in 1938 this is a macabre murder mystery from the golden age of crime fiction.